Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Kiss the Girl ❯ Kiss the Girl ( Chapter 1 )

Ooo! I forgot all about this story! I started writing this in February and then set it aside to work on other stories, and promptly forgot about it. So…here it is now, finished, and only…six months behind schedule! Go me!

Disclaimers: I don't own Yugioh or any of the characters from the show. I do own this story. Steal it and die.

Just a forewarning…this story is set right after the episode with Anzu and Yami's "date". Why, you ask? Because I really was liking that episode until they had to go and ruin it by having that whole duel-tournament-for-the-fate-of-the-world thing. Yeesh. Take a perfectly good date and just turn it into another repetitive plot hole…

Oh and, this WILL be an ANZU and YAMI pairing. If you don't like that couple, use your brain and DON'T READ. 'Nuf said.

Kiss the Girl

By Quickening

He was nervous.

The King of Games, the former Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, the always smooth and self-assured one, was actually nervous. His palms were sweaty, his heart was pounding, and he was sure he was sweating a little as he faced his newest-and so far, his greatest-challenge.

Namely…saying goodnight to a girl.

He'd had a surprisingly wonderful time that day, after his other half had so blatantly tricked him into spending most of it with Anzu, and after the first uncomfortable half hour or so, he'd managed to relax and let himself have fun, for the first time in…well…in a very long time.

It had helped that Anzu was doing her best to be cheerful and considerate, knowing that he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing on this strange, modern custom called a "date". He could barely remember anything from his past life; it stood to reason that he'd know next to nothing about any sort of customs in this one. But Anzu was a patient teacher and more than willing to help him out, even though a certain someone had managed to make his presence disappear during the duration of the outing.

Now, though, the day was coming to an end, and so was their "date", and after a rather pleasant walk home, Yami found himself standing at her front door with the setting sun playing golden highlights in her hair, facing her whimsical smile and large, expectant eyes…

And he had absolutely no idea what to do next.

I could really use your help on this, Yugi, he muttered inwardly, and again was rewarded with silence. Great. He'd forgotten what kind of an imp Yugi could occasionally be, but apparently, Yugi had chosen to remind his darker half with some less than perfect timing by pulling this little vanishing act. Anzu really did appear to be expecting something, but he had no idea what that might be. And his pride wouldn't allow him to ask, either.

"Thanks for putting up with me today," Anzu finally stated, apparently realizing that whatever she expected wasn't forthcoming. Her voice abruptly jerked him out of his inner musings and he blinked at her. "I hope it wasn't too boring for you," she added, a bit shyly. "I hope that museum helped you to sort some things out, too."

"Yes…and…no, it wasn't boring. Not at all," he replied, stammering a bit in the face of her brilliant smile. "I rather enjoyed myself today, for the first time in awhile. Thank you."

Her smile widened, a blush touching her cheeks. "Oh…don't thank me," she replied, scratching the back of her head. "Really, I was glad to help. I don't want you to be all depressed. I know you'll remember everything eventually and find what you're meant to do, and until then, you have me!" Her eyes suddenly widened as she realized what she said. "Er…I mean…us," she amended hastily, looking sheepish. "Y-you have all of us…"

"Yes. Thank you," he repeated, smiling a little in return as he admired the way the dying sunlight seemed to cast a glowing halo around her chestnut hair. Then, before he knew what he was saying, "Perhaps we can…do something like this again sometime?"

Her eyes widened. "R-really? You…mean that?" she stuttered, looking adorably surprised and pleased and even a little flustered.

"Of course. Despite what you may think, I do enjoy spending time with my friends," he replied amusedly, and noted to his confusion a brief flash of disappointment in the dark blue eyes.

"Of course," she replied around a forced little laugh. "Your friends. Right."

He tilted his head, eyeing her curiously at the odd note of frustration…and maybe even a bit of hurt…in her tone. "Anzu…?"

She flashed him a smile and shrugged lightly. "Well…guess I'd better go in," she interrupted hastily. "Thank you for a wonderful time today. I really did enjoy myself, and I'm glad you did, too. Especially when we got to whoop that guy's ass at the arcade!" She grinned almost wolfishly in remembrance and he had to smile. She hesitated, again looking as if she expected something, but when he merely looked at her curiously, she seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts and smiled at him again, turning to open the door with a soft farewell.

Yami breathed a huge sigh of relief as he turned to leave, walking slowly back to Yugi's house, and wondering why he felt as though he'd just missed out on something important.

& & & & &

He found Yugi sprawled out on his bed, the covers appearing through the translucent spirit-form he wore when Yami was in control of his body, staring at the ceiling with an incredibly bored expression on his face. As soon as Yami entered the room, however, the bored expression was gone, to replaced by eager questioning. "So how'd it go? Did you learn anything? Did you have a great time? Did you ask her out again? Did you get to kiss her? What was it like?"

Yami could only stand and blink in the face of such rapid-fire demands, waiting until Yugi ran out of breath (which took awhile considering he wasn't technically breathing at the moment), and then dropped onto the desk chair to sort them all out. "It went…well," he began hesitantly. "I did learn some things, which I'll discuss with you later once I've sorted them out a bit more, and yes, I had a good time. It was…an interesting day."

Especially, he decided, the part of it where he'd gotten to watch Anzu dance; that had been most interesting. He could tell that she loved it, and now he understood why she wanted to pursue it so badly. She'd been…well…really good hardly began to cover it. He'd never seen dancing like that before-he'd never seen any real dancing at all-but he couldn't help but think that…well, he'd always thought that Anzu was rather a beautiful girl, but when she was caught up in the passion and joy of her movements, she had been simply breathtaking. She'd…absolutely glowed.

"And?" Yugi was looking at him expectantly, a lot like Anzu had at her door, and he fought back a flash of annoyance.

"And what?" he grumbled.

Yugi rolled his eyes in a "duh!" gesture. "Did you ask her out again? What did she say?"

"I…did," he admitted. "She seemed…pleased with the idea…"

"Great!" Yugi crowed.

Yami cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I mean…I'm glad you two are getting along so well," he added a bit sheepishly. "Yami, Anzu really likes you a lot, you know. I mean…she'd never admit that, of course but…I can tell." He nodded wisely, and Yami resisted the urge to blush. "Now…answer my final question. Did you get to kiss her?"

Yami choked. "I…what…no! I didn't kiss her!" he stammered, and this time he did blush. "I…that's…hardly appropriate behavior…"

Yugi snorted. "What are you talking about? A kiss? Come on, Yami, that's how most dates end these days. It's expected even!"

Expected? That gave Yami pause. So was that why Anzu had been looking at him like that? Because he was supposed to kiss her? Well, maybe that was why she'd seemed so disappointed then when she'd gone inside.

But…a kiss? With Anzu? He could feel his face turning red again and his stomach gave a strange lurch. It had been a long time since he'd even considered that kind of thing with a girl. From what little he could remember of his past, he had the feeling that he didn't deal with them much back then, either. Too busy being Pharaoh and all to consider much in the way of romance…

"Well, no hope for it now," Yugi was saying. "I guess I can't blame you, it isn't like you knew or anything. Besides, if you're gonna go out with her again, you'll have another chance. Just don't blow it this time, right?"

"Yeah…" he muttered absently, relinquishing control of his body back to his lighter half and drifting to seat himself at the windowsill and stare out at the darkening night.

"So…" Yugi paused to yawn as he changed his clothes, then crawled back into bed; Yami's date had worn his body out, it seemed. "When're you gonna go out with Anzu again?"

It occurred to Yami that he'd forgotten to ask, but it didn't matter because Yugi was already asleep.

& & & & &

The trouble with not having a body was that he never got tired. Oh, sure, his spirit could become weary but it wasn't the kind of weariness that sleep could overcome. He couldn't fall into the oblivion of sleep like a mortal body. No matter how much he rested, his mind was always active, always thinking.

And at the moment, he was thinking about his date with Anzu. More importantly, about the end of his date with Anzu, and that brief look of disappointment and hurt she'd flashed him before going inside. He felt…guilty about that, for some reason. That he hadn't kissed her goodbye as Yugi had said he ought to have done. Of course, he knew Anzu probably wouldn't hold it against him-she was just that kind of a person to never hold a grudge-but he still felt badly for disappointing her after she'd tried so hard to cheer him up.

His next question was, why had she been disappointed? Had she wanted his kiss that badly? If spirits could blush, Yami would have at that thought. Yugi had said that Anzu liked him, and he knew he wasn't talking about the regular kind of like. Not the kind friends felt for friends…but something…more.

He supposed he ought not do anything to encourage the girl-such as taking her out on another date-after all, he was only a spirit who barely remembered who he was and was still searching for all the answers of his past, and it appeared that his future was about to become rather…unpredictable, as well. Anzu was someone special, she deserved more than anything he had to offer her. But he couldn't help but be a little bit flattered that the girl felt something like that for him, although it mystified him as to why. Up until today, he hadn't really considered Anzu as anything but a distant friend; more of an acquaintance, actually. "Yugi's childhood friend" was how he'd always categorized her. But now that he'd spent so much time with her today, he couldn't help but think that he wouldn't mind getting to know her even better. She really was something else. Aside from being his own personal cheerleader, she was simply a good person at heart who genuinely cared about people. Yami had almost forgotten what caring about others felt like, until she'd reminded him.

He had the sudden urge to see her again, to thank her for helping him to open up and realize his destiny, and maybe to apologize for his lack of understanding outside her door when he'd left her. He'd hated to see her looking at him like that, no matter how briefly. He'd have to do something to make up for it.

Coming to a decision, he rose from his seat and went to Yugi's bed. "Yugi," he whispered, reaching out to shake him. Unlike most normal objects, his hand didn't pass through Yugi's body, but landed solidly on it. He could affect objects and such around him, but only if he concentrated on what he was touching. With Yugi, however, any physical contact always came without thought. He really didn't understand how things like that worked; maybe it was because of their connection through the puzzle. At any rate, he gave Yugi's shoulders a brief, hard shake, and was rewarded with a disgruntled mumble and a pair of sleepy eyes blinking open.

"Whuzmatter, Yami?" Yugi questioned around a huge yawn. "Iztime t' get up already?"

"No. It's only ten thirty. I'm sorry, I know you were sleeping, but…I was wondering if I might borrow your body again for a little while."

Yugi rubbed his eyes sleepily. "What for?" he asked.

Yami paused, suddenly embarrassed. "I…erm…thought I'd take a walk," he muttered sheepishly. "It's a rather nice night out…"

Yugi stared up at him for a moment, then smirked. "Oh, okay," he replied slyly, and in another moment Yami abruptly found himself blinking from Yugi's body, with Yugi's spirit hovering over him. "Just so you know, Anzu's parents left two days ago on a business trip, so she's by herself in that house. Better behave yourself over there," he added with a cheeky grin. "If you need to let yourself in, there's a key hidden in the fake rock outside her door, under the bushes."

Yami blinked up at him…feeling his face heat up. Stupid mortal body. "I…I wasn't…that is…"

Yugi laughed. "Just don't wear out my body too much, okay? I do have school tomorrow."

"Just what are you implying?!" Yami huffed indignantly, standing up and glowering down at his smaller counterpart.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Yugi replied flippantly, although the smirk didn't leave his face.

Muttering to himself, Yami turned and stalked from the bedroom…only to be called back by Yugi a moment later. "Yes?" he questioned stiffly.

The smirk was still in place. "Yami…if you're gonna go see Anzu…don't you think you ought to…I dunno…change first, or something?"

Yami blinked, looked down at the blue pajamas covered in rocket ships adorning his body, and promptly turned red again amidst Yugi's amused chortles.

& & & & &

Nobody answered the door when Yami knocked, and so after a moment, he tried the doorknob, finding to his dismay that it turned easily in his hand. He frowned as he slowly opened it and stepped inside the house, reminding himself to talk to Anzu about the dangers of leaving her front door unlocked where anybody could just walk in off the streets. Even he knew the dangers of living in a city, and he'd been comatose for five thousand years!

"Anzu?" he called softly as he stepped further into the dim house. There was no answer…but he heard a burst of noise coming from just ahead, from what he remembered to be her living room. He'd never been in her house before, at least not on his own, but he had watched through Yugi's eyes several times when he'd gone visiting so he had a vaguely good idea as to its layout.

The noise, as it turned out, was coming from the television, which was playing one of those anime shows that Yugi had once shown him. But the language was strange to him, clearly not Japanese; he couldn't be sure but he thought it might be that tongue which Yugi always moaned about having to study, that "In-ger-ish". At any rate, the screen depicted a black-haired man and a red-haired woman sitting in a boat in the middle of a lake, with fireflies dancing all around them and…apparently, they were being serenaded by…a bunch of animals. According to the subtitles that flashed across the screen in time with their singing…said animals were apparently trying to convince the man to kiss the woman, who was attempting to look innocent while he just looked outright confused, apparently having no idea that he was being serenaded by a bunch of fish and amphibians.

Yami sweatdropped slightly. Singing frogs and dancing birds? Okay. Now he'd seen everything…

A soft sigh and the rustle of fabric from behind abruptly made him forget all about the strange show on the television as he looked to locate the source of the noise. And then he saw Anzu, spread out on the couch with a soft afghan draped over her legs, a plate containing a few crumbs and a half-full glass of milk on the table before her. He couldn't stop the smile that spread over his face at the sight of her. "Asleep, are you?" he murmured as he turned to kneel beside her head, watching her sleeping face with a soft expression covering his own. "Well, never mind then. I shall speak with you some other time," he added, impulsively lifting his hand to brush lean fingers over her cheek, pushing a lock of chestnut hair away from her lips.

To his utter consternation, his touch seemed to rouse Anzu from her light slumber, her breath hitching in her throat as sleep suddenly fled her, her body tensing and her eyes fluttering open when she realized abruptly that she wasn't alone. Before she could think to scream, however, her sleepy eyes fell on Yami's countenance, and the tension fled her body in a wave. "Y-Yami, is that you?" she croaked, sitting up to face him more fully, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. "What are you doing here?"

Yami froze, as everything he'd planned on telling her abruptly fled his mind. "I…uh…I'm sorry for disturbing you, Anzu," he stammered, abruptly standing as if to flee the room. "I didn't mean to wake you. Perhaps I should go…"

"Oh…wait!" A slender hand came up to grip his, and he stared down at her, nonplussed. Embarrassed, Anzu blushed and released him. "I…um…that is, there must have been a reason for you to come. Since you're here, you might as well tell me what it is," she stammered. "Is anything wrong? Did…" She suddenly looked excited. "Did you remember something else about your past?"

"No, nothing like that," he told her, forcing the tension to leave his body. "It's just…I wanted to…thank you. For today. For spending time with me and helping me to discover a bit about myself."

She shrugged a bit sheepishly. "You already did thank me," she reminded him, plucking at the afghan across her legs. "I was glad to help. I'll help any way I can, you know that."

He nodded, watching the top of her head where it bent over the afghan, noting for the first time how very shy and un-Anzu-like she seemed when speaking with him. Could Yugi really have been right? Could she really like him like that? "I also…wished to apologize for this afternoon," he continued carefully, watching her reaction. She looked up at him quizzically, her brow furrowed. "When I left you at your door, you seemed rather…disappointed in me. If I did or said anything to hurt your feelings, I am sorry."

"Oh." Her eyes widened slightly. "Oh!" A pink flush began to spread across her cheeks as her gaze darted away. "I…um…it was nothing, really. Just…uh…nothing. No need to worry about it…" She came to a stuttering halt, eyes once again fixed on the afghan as he stood above her, a small smile touching his lips.

Yugi's words played themselves in his head, encouraging him, and feeling even more emboldened by Anzu's tell-tale response, he knelt beside her and reached out to cup her chin with the tips of his fingers. Her wide eyes snapped up to meet his again. "I also wish to apologize for not ending our…date…properly," he told her in a voice barely above a whisper. "If I may have your permission, I'd like to remedy that."

She blinked at him, looking confused for a moment, before slow understanding dawned. The blush in her cheeks deepened and she looked adorably flustered, but as she didn't pull away or beat him over the head with a couch cushion, he decided to take it as her consent, and slowly leaned in, the silly cartoon frogs still crooning their encouragement in the background.

Kissing Anzu was about the sweetest sensation he had ever experienced. The soft, tender warmth of her full lips pressing to his was enough to make him lightheaded, to set his heart to racing and the blood to pounding in his throat, his wrists, his veins. How long had it been since he'd experienced such a feeling? Had he ever felt like this before, like heaven was opening right before his eyes? And all this in just the moment it took before he pulled softly away again, lidded eyes glowing lovingly into hers. "I trust that will be sufficient to make up for my earlier lack in manners?" he asked, looking at her seriously, although his eyes suggested that he was merely teasing.

She was staring at him with something akin to wonder, but now a small grin twitched at her lips. "Yeah…" she breathed, and didn't appear to know what else to say after that.

He smiled again and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "And now, it seems I have something else to look forward to, the next time we go out," he added. "But for the moment, I've got to go home again." He started to rise again, but was once again stopped by her hand on his wrist. She didn't let go this time, and he shifted the grip so that it was his hand she held, their fingers lacing together, holding tightly to each other.

She bit her lip as she watched him. "D-do you really have to leave right now?" she asked a bit wistfully. "I could…make some hot chocolate or something. We could…finish the movie, or I could start it over for you…"

"I'm sorry, but I promised Yugi I wouldn't stay here long. He does need his body relatively rested for school tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she replied, although she couldn't quite mask the disappointment in her tone. If she was surprised at Yugi's apparent consent for Yami to be there, she didn't show it. "Well…goodnight then. And…thank you. For coming over. And for…you know." She ducked her head shyly.

He smiled down at her, then nodded toward the television. "I need to ask…just what is it that you're watching, anyway?" he asked curiously.

She laughed a little, looking sheepish. "It's kind of silly, really. It's an American cartoon, called The Little Mermaid. It's based off a fairy tale, actually, about a mermaid who falls in love with a human prince and asks a sea witch to make her human so he would fall in love with her, as well."

"I see," he replied, eyeing the moving pictures on the screen. "And does this fairy tale have a happy ending?"

She smiled. "This version does," she told him. "The mermaid marries the prince and they live happily ever after."

"Another version doesn't end that way?"

She smiled softly. "In the original story, the prince fell in love with a human princess, and the little mermaid turned into bubbles and died," she replied. "Although I believe she died to save the prince, it…wasn't quite as happy."

"I like this version better," Yami agreed, giving her hand a squeeze. "Even with the singing animals."

That elicited a short laugh. "I guess you should go now. And I probably should go back to sleep in my own bed, instead of the couch," she added, "unless I want to wake up with a backache tomorrow." She rose to her feet and dusted off her shorts, then followed Yami to the front door. "So…I'll see you around," she said shyly, not at all certain how she should treat him, now that he'd taken such a step forward. True, he'd kissed her, but he'd still not given her any hint as to his feelings for her. That just friends comment still weighed heavily. Was it all he saw her as, a mere friend?

As if reading her mind, she felt strong fingers cup her chin again and draw her forward before firm, warm lips were once more covering her own in another kiss that by far surpassed their first in emotion. After long moments of slow, caressing warmth, his mouth softly parted from hers, and his arms slipped around her waist in a loose embrace as he nuzzled his cheek against her own. "Farewell…my dearest friend," he murmured, his low voice soft and husky in her ear. She shivered in reaction, but before she could return the sentiment, she felt his presence leave her, and he was gone from her doorstep, vanishing into the shadows like the spirit he was.

She shut the door behind her and automatically locked it, a silly grin plastered all over her face as she leaned back against it and stared dreamily up at the ceiling. "I cannot wait for our next date."

End